AOL Time Warner [http://www.aoltimewarner.com/] is attempting to "connect, inform and entertain people everywhere in innovative ways that will enrich their lives," according to the firm's mission statement. Access the AOL Web site and then answer the following questions:

1. Does AOL seem to be striving to communicate with any one particular audience through its Web site? If so, which audience?
   
   
2. Do you think AOL's communication will "connect" with their target audience? What can AOL do to improve on any weak aspects of their communications?
   
   

Internet Exercise
Chapter 18's Working with Diversity themed insert tells how colleges attempt to communicate information about an applicant's race without resorting to explicit racial labels. Explore the Admissions pages for two universities: the University of Michigan [http://www.umich.edu/], whose 2003 freshman class was 64 percent Caucasian, and Howard University [http://www.howard.edu/], a historically black university in Washington, DC. View the two universities' online admissions pages and look for any race-related communication issues and challenges. Then answer the following questions:

1. From the information available at the Web site, what can you determine about each university's communication system? Are they communicating effectively with prospective students?
   
   
2. What communications did you find on either Web site related to race? What conclusions do you draw from your answer to the previous question?
   
   
3. What are the advantages to limiting the amount of communication that universities and prospective students may have regarding race? What are the disadvantages? Consider the needs of both the institutions and the students.
   
   

Explore Further
For a novel and controversial approach to problems related to the discussion about race between universities and prospective students, visit the Web site of NoRace.org [http://www.norace.org/]. NoRace.org is an organization that encourages students to deliberately misreport their race on college applications, viewing this as an act of civil disobedience in response to an unjust government policy. Do you think this is likely to be effective in changing government policy? Why or why not?